Architecting a development and testing plan for the Army's common operating environment: Applying agile systems of systems development to army network acquisition

Information is the fuel of modern society; from social media to the stock exchange, the ability for individual entities to connect with each other over distance makes everything possible. Similarly, the ability to leverage information across a complex battlespace is one of the key elements that makes the U.S. Army such a potent fighting force. At the heart of this capability is a robust and adaptive tactical network that facilitates mission command at every echelon. Though the Army possess a strong network, continuing efforts to improve it over time is a struggle. Cost and schedule overruns have become normal occurrences as individual systems fail to pass the Army's rigorous interoperability certification requirements. Without interoperability, the network does not work. The Army's acquisition community's shift to focus on a new paradigm of network development, the Common Operating Environment (COE), promised to create a better system for insuring network interoperability in a timely manner. Old habits and practices, however, have threatened the promise of the new paradigm in terms of development, evaluation, and certification. This document examines current practices and issues regarding network development and makes a recommendation for how to approach COE to achieve greater levels of interoperability faster and cheaper. By utilizing an agile based approach, COE can be developed as a system of systems through iterative sprints that focus on developing an interconnected network that works the first time.